Mango Freezer Pops and a Peek into a Collection

We eat a lot of frozen pops in my house. Pretty much year round, but in the summer we eat even more. I try and make my own, most of the time they are frozen juices or smoothies, using real fruit, yogurt and honey to sweeten (if needed). No crazy food dies, not artificial flavors or sweeteners.

I don't have a set recipe for most of the ones I make, I just put a couple of cups of fruit, about a cup of vanilla or plain yogurt and a little milk into the blender and just blend it all together. Easy, peasy!

The Mango-Raspberry pops on the left use the above ratio. I used four ripe mangoes about 3/4 cup of raspberries, a cup of yogurt and enough milk to make everything blend smoothly.

The Mango-Chili ones are different, I have had the recipe forever, but this was my first time making it. I am interested to see how the cayenne pepper tastes after freezing! I tasted the mixture before freezing and it was prety good.(Recipe below)

So you might have noticed that I have a few different molds. Once I get on a kick with something, I am really on a kick. I am pretty frugal in most every aspect and can really stretch a dollar. Except when it comes to kitchen tools and art supplies. I still bargain hunt, but things that get used a lot are worth a little extra money, if they have a function that the cheaper ones might be lacking. I like molds that allow me to remove the popsicle from the base--I don't like the ones that have 4-6 together and you have to wait until they are all gone to wash it and start again. Once mine are frozen, I toss them in a big plastic bag labeled with the flavor and as soon as we have eaten enough for a new batch, I can start again. Doing this also makes it easier for me to have a few different flavors in the freezer at a time. I love all my molds. The Ice Cream Cones can be found here , the Ring Pops (perfect for little ones) can be found here and the Monster Pops are here.  

I really like the Tovolo brand of molds, I use mine a lot and they have held up beautifully.Here are some reasons these are my favorite brand:

*** After at least three or four years, of almost constant use, they show almost no signs of wear
***They come in lots of fun shapes
*** BPA free
***The cones catch drips,great with little ones
***The led of the cones comes off easier than any other molds I have ever used

   *** They all come off the base that is used for freezing and the bases are sturdy so you don't have to worry about them collapsing on the way to the freezer. The fact that I can remove them from the base is my number one reason for loving and preferring the Tovolo brand molds.

My name is Gina and I have a serious Kitchen Gadget fixation!

Mango Chili Pops

2 cups pineapple juice

1/2 cup honey

1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted and flesh scooped out

2 tbs lemon juice

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp salt

Toss everything in the blender and blend until smooth. Pour into molds and freeze.